Jul 24, 2013

24 July 2013, UN News Service -- "The humanitarian community is sounding the alarm on a nutrition crisis in Gao, in northern Mali, that is taking a toll on the most vulnerable and children under the age of five in particular, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said.

A nutrition and mortality survey carried out by Mali's Ministry of Health and its partners, including UNICEF, found that the rate of global acute malnutrition (GAM) is 13.5 per cent making it a "serious" nutrition situation according to UN classification.

The situation is even more worrying in the Bourem health district, where the rate of GAM is 17 per cent, exceeding the emergency threshold of 15 per cent set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

During the next six months, 22,730 children will be at risk for acute malnutrition, UNICEF warned in a news release. ..."